Voters In 3 States Approve Measure To Place New Restrictions On Gun Owners

Voters in three states that went Democratic during Tuesday’s presidential election also approved gun rights restrictions while voters in a fourth state rejected curbs on guns.

California, Washington and Nevada all approved new laws. Maine voters rejected the proposal.

California, home to the San Bernardino massacre in 2015 despite already existing strict controls on guns, approved a law that makes it illegal to own ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. The new law also requires background checks on anyone who purchases ammunition.

“It was a repudiation of the National Rifle Assn. and the gun lobby. They lost badly,” said California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a proponent of the measure who said what California voters passed will soon be replicated elsewhere.

“It’s a very important initiative because I think it’s the beginning of a national debate on relinquishment and ammunition background checks that will I think will have a very significant impact on reducing gun violence in this country,” he said.

Gun rights advocates said the ballot referendum was politically motivated.

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“Prop. 63 is another attempt by Newsom and his 1 percent, elitist friends to attack law-abiding Californians,” said Craig DeLuz, a spokesman for the Stop Prop 63 Committee. “They want to replace the ‘War on Drugs’ with ‘The War on law-abiding gun owners’ so they can continue locking up young black and Latino men.”

In Washington, voters approved a measure that allows police and family the ability to have a court take away the guns of individuals thought to be a danger to themselves or to others.

In Nevada, voters narrowly approved expanded background checks for all private gun sales and transfers. The measure passed with a margin of about 10,000 votes out of 1 million ballots cast.

The Nevada measure was bankrolled by Everytown for Gun Safety, a group organized by former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Almost $11 million of the roughly $15 million raised to support the ballot measure came from Bloomberg’s group, according to campaign finance reports.

A ballot item very similar to the one that passed in Nevada went down to defeat in Maine.

“With their freedoms in question and liberties at stake, [voters] embraced the rights recognized in our Constitution and said no to the poorly written, unenforceable mandates of the … ballot initiative,” said Chris Cox, executive director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action.

David Trahan, executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, said he hopes the measure’s defeat, coupled with the presidential election, sends a message to Democrats.

“They made a run on gun control – Hillary ran on it – and they lost, and I think that sends a pretty clear message, particularly to the Democratic Party,” said Trahan.